DETROIT — Wayne State University’s Board of Governors today approved a $631.2 million operating budget for fiscal year 2017 that calls for a tuition increase of $13.19 per credit hour, or 3.8 percent for Michigan resident lower-division undergraduates, and $18.42 per credit hour, or 4.5 percent, for Michigan resident upper-division undergraduates. The average of these rates is 4.1 percent and is within the tuition restraint cap.

The overall operating budget includes a 9.1 percent increase in financial aid and additional faculty to handle enrollment increases in selective programs. To balance the budget, the university implemented $2.3 million in budget reductions, bringing the total cuts over the last five years to nearly $75 million.

“It’s always difficult to raise tuition knowing that our students will feel the effects of the increase,” said Board of Governors Chair Gary Pollard. “The board’s decision followed months of intensive discussion and careful reviews of the university’s budget needs. We feel the increase is necessary to maintain the excellence of Wayne State University, but we also resolved to keep the increase below the state’s restraint cap.”

Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson said, “Among all of the state’s 15 public universities, Wayne State has received the lowest percentage increase in state appropriations over the last five years, due in large part to the State’s flawed performance metrics system. While we support performance-based funding, we believe performance metrics should take into account the unique missions of each institution within the state, as well as the unique contributions of our research universities.

“We have always been a university of excellence but also a university of opportunity. Many of our students work full or part time, have families, or come from challenging economic situations, but they have the talent and desire to succeed. More exclusive universities might not admit them, but we provide them with the opportunity for a college education. We think this is an important mission for both the students and the State. Unfortunately, our current metrics formula doesn’t fully recognize this critical mission.”

In an effort to further assist those students needing financial assistance, the 9.1 percent, or $6.4 million, financial aid increase provided in the 2017 budget will bring institutionally funded financial aid to $72.7 million –— an increase of more than 250 percent since 2006. Wayne State’s total financial aid distribution, including loans and work-study awards, is $342 million.

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